Associated Press, Sept. 16, 2013: At Japan’s Monju test reactor site in Fukui, which is currently off-line, an emergency data transmission system went down, apparently due to storm damage, regulators said Monday, an indication of risk management issues at Japanese nuclear facilities even after the Fukushima crisis.

Kyodo News, Sept. 16, 2013: Data transmission from Monju reactor stopped [...] There are no prospects for restoration of data transmission for now, with the reactor site in Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture, inaccessible due to mudslides and fallen trees caused by the typhoon, it said. The Monju reactor has effectively been prohibited from operation because of lax safety management by the operator.

Kyodo News, Sept. 17, 2013: [...] Heavy rain attributed to a typhoon caused a landslide near a tunnel entry point within the compound of the prototype fast-breeder reactor complex in Tsuruga city, according to the regulation agency’s secretariat. The cable damage is suspected near that area, it said. Restoration of the transmission of data such as reactor temperatures is expected to take some time [...]

Look at the angle of that mountain behind plant, I can imagine the water running down right into the plant or worst a giant landslide, who in there right mind would build a nuclear plant there and a experimental one with mox fuel, not right in the head?

"Named after the Buddhist divinity of wisdom, Monju, located in Japan's Fukui prefecture, is Japan's only fast-breeder reactor. Unlike conventional reactors, fast-breeder reactors, which "breed" plutonium, use sodium rather than water as a coolant. This type of coolant creates a potentially hazardous situation as sodium is highly corrosive and reacts violently with both water and air."

"On December 8th, 1995, 700 kg of molten sodium leaked from the secondary cooling circuit of the Monju reactor, resulting in a fire that made headlines across the country."

"Further complicating the story, the deputy general manager of the general affairs department at the PNC, Shigeo Nishimura, 49, jumped to his death the day after a news conference where he and other officials revealed the extent of the cover-up."

The question of how a total nightmare could possibly get worse has just been answered.

Monju Nuclear Power Plant “unsafer” than thought
24 Jun 13

Lack of safety checks more serious than first admitted.

The Japan Atomic Energy Agency has again apologized after it emerged that more equipment at the Monju prototype fast-breeder reactor in Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture were overlooked for inspections. It revealed that 12,000 items escaped checks, some 2,000 more than initially announced.

What does "off-line but not shut down" MEAN?? And why was there no mention of yet ANOTHER MOX fuel reactor in Japan? How many are there over there? And what exactly was the "lax safety operation" before this happened? And why are there no criminal warrants out?

But as far as I can figure the reactor is still active and requiring ongoing circulation in the three stage cooling system – it was reloaded with fuel in 2010 and hasn't done much work since so the fuel load is probably pretty intense still.

I think the cycle is a core with MOX and liquid sodium, then a heat transfer into a liquid sodium loop and finally that liquid sodium goes through a steam generator that produces the steam to run the turbines and generators. So there are three discrete circulating systems needed to keep temperatures under control. And of course all utterly dependent on external mains power.

I hate to think what the equivalent of a spend fuel pond is like at this place!!!

Hopefully the boys are not pulling batteries out of cars in the staff car park to keep it all going as we speak!!!

way over blown… If they just stick with the twelve thousand item check list, and barring any unforeseen environmental influence, or human fallibility, materials defect or oversight, this thing is perfectly safe, within its design life span and specified operating conditions. And thats a promise you can take to the bank

Um, Google gets closer to ground objects even if there isn't a higher res image available. The structures are simply blurry on closer inspection. This is a blocking out of specific areas. I assume this is done for security reasons. Nothing ominous about it. What does "cope" mean in this context?

Done in by mud. One researcher said that water has memory.
So that must mean that mud does too. We are in trouble because the species has been most unkind to every single thing. Sadness, that we couldn't figure where this whole thing was going.

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